What We owe the Future

880 Pages·2022·5.119 MB·English

by  William MacaskilL

Copyright © 2022 by William MacAskill
Cover design by Ann Kirchner
Cover image © Mosuno / Stocksy
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: MacAskill, William, 1987– author.
Title: What we owe the future / William MacAskill.
Description: First edition. | New York, NY : Hachette Book Group, Inc,
2022. | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2022000444 | ISBN 9781541618626 (hardcover) | ISBN
9781541618633 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Altruism. | Civilization, Modern—Forecasting. | Future,
The. | Human beings—Forecasting. | Human beings—Extinction.
Classification: LCC BJ1474 .M33 2022 | DDC 171/.8—dc23/eng/20220506
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022000444
ISBNs: 9781541618626 (hardcover), 9781541618633 (ebook)
E3-20220613-JV-NF-ORI
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
PART I. THE LONG VIEW
Introduction
Chapter 1: The Case for Longtermism
Chapter 2: You Can Shape the Course of History
PART II. TRAJECTORY CHANGES
Chapter 3: Moral Change
Chapter 4: Value Lock-In
PART III. SAFEGUARDING CIVILISATION
Chapter 5: Extinction
Chapter 6: Collapse
Chapter 7: Stagnation
PART IV. ASSESSING THE END OF THE WORLD
Chapter 8: Is It Good to Make Happy People?
Chapter 9: Will the Future Be Good or Bad?
PART V. TAKING ACTION
Chapter 10: What to Do
Acknowledgements
Discover More
About the Author
Also by William MacAskill
Appendices
1. Further Resources
2. Terminology
3. The SPC Framework
4. Objections to Longtermism
Figure Credits and Data Sources
Notes
Afterwards
For my parents, Mair and Robin, and their parents, Ena and Tom and
Daphne and Frank, and…
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PART I
THE LONG VIEW